Beatles, robots and marriage: acts that rocked the Grammys

LOS ANGELES, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The Grammy awards, music’s biggest night, is as much about the lively performances and often rare collaborations between big names as it is about the awards handed out across 82 categories.

Here are some of Sunday night’s top moments telecast live from the Grammy stage.

- Their “Sippy Cup” Runneth Over

A scantily-clad, sultry Beyonce opened the Grammy awards by gyrating on a fog-filled set, singing “Drunk in Love” with rapper husband Jay Z, her first public performance since the stealth release of her latest, self-titled album. The song is a follow-up to the couple’s 2003 duet on “Crazy in Love.”

Later in the show, Jay Z gave a shoutout to the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, while accepting the award for best rap collaboration for “Holy Grail” featuring Justin Timberlake - “I want to tell Blue, look, Daddy got a gold sippy cup for you.” Within minutes, the hashtag #GoldSippyCup became a top trending topic on Twitter.

- Beatles Come Together

The two surviving members of the Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, joined forces to perform a new song, “Queenie Eye.” The catchy rock song hearkened back to the Beatles’ trademark hits. The Liverpool band will be honored by the Recording Academy at a special tribute concert on Monday marking the 50th anniversary of their arrival in the United States on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

- Madonna, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Celebrate “Same Love”

Thirty-three couples, both same-sex and heterosexual, were married live on television as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Mary Lambert performed “Same Love,” an ode to marriage equality and gay rights. Queen Latifah officiated the mass marriage on a Grammy stage made to resemble a cathedral with giant arches, while Madonna, dressed in a white suit and cowboy hat, came on to sing her hit, “Open Your Heart,” before joining Lambert to finish the ceremony.

- Robots “Get Lucky” With Wonder

French electro-music duo Daft Punk performed their second televised performance ever with their hit “Get Lucky,” sung by Pharrell Williams and veteran soul singer Stevie Wonder. Daft Punk, dressed in white suits with white helmets, fused “Get Lucky” with 1970s hit song “Le Freak” and Wonder’s “Another Star” on a stage resembling a recording studio. The audience was its feet, dancing along to the infectious beats.

- Las Vegas Meets Compton

Rapper Kendrick Lamar, from Compton, California, and Las Vegas alt-rock group Imagine Dragons fused their musical styles together to perform a mash-up of their singles “M.A.A.D City” and “Radioactive,” accompanied by large drums and strobe-lights.

- Flying High

Pink performed aerial acrobatics over the Grammy audience while singing “Try,” before jumping on stage to sing “Just Give Me a Reason” with Fun. frontman Nate Ruess.